Draft-gear for railway-cars.



W. H. COTTON.

nRAFT GEAR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. I9I6.

Patented Juno 2 2 SHEETS-SHEEI l.

W. H. COTTON.

DRAFT GEAR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, I9I6.

Pzitented .Ilmo 25, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

a I l l lllllllllllllll 'erre WALTER H. COTTON, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT-GEAR FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1918.

Application filed April 4, 1916. Serial No. 88,849.

To all fio/tom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. Co'r'roN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements n Draft-Gear for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification and which areillustrated in the accom panying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The invention relates to draft gears of the so-called friction type, asto some of its features being, however, applicable to gears withoutregardto the particular character of the shock-absorbing elements.

The objects of the invention are to secure a high degree of efficiency,simplicity of construction and convenience in assembling.

The embodiment of the invention hereinafter described is illustrated inthe ac companying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central verticalsection of the gear;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a plan section showing the gear under compression;

Fig. L is a detail in plan of the coupler and its extension, showing amodified form of construction;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of one of the wedgng elements of thegear; and

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the rearward follower of the gear.

The draft sills of a railway car are represented at 10 and 11, and areprovided with the usual draft lugs 12, 13, and bufling lugs 14, 15. Therear end dof a coupler is shown at 16, and as being of the M. C. B.standard form of construction.

The coupler extension for transmitting draft stresses to the gearconsists of a pair ofbars 17, 18, attached by any suitable means,respectively, to the top and bottom faces of the butt of the coupler,and each having its rear end inturned and given a hooked form, as shownat 19, for engaging a beveled face of the rearward follower. As shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the bars 17, 18, are secured to the coupler by means ofrivets, as 20. If desired these bars may he detachably secured to thecoupler by means of a bolt 21, their forward ends 22 being hooked overbeveled shoulders on the coupler in the same manner as their rearwardends are in hooked engagement with the rear follower, as shown in Fig.4.

The beveled shoulders for engaging the bars may be formed directly uponthe coupler butt, or the standard coupler may be employed and filling orlagging blocks 23, 24, may be riveted to its top and bottoni faces, theinclined shoulders, as 25, being formed on the forward edges of theseblocks. When the bars are thus hooked to a coupler, the bolt 21 iscalled upon to do no duty other than hold them in place, the draftstresses being transmitted entirely from the coupler to the bars throughthe hooked forward ends of the latter.

The forward follower' is shown at 26, and takes the usual form of a fiatrectangular plate adapted to bear against the draft lugs 12, 13, andagainst which bears the inner end of the butt of the coupler. This follower is apertured to receive a draw-bolt 27, having a head preferablyconical in form, seated within the counter-sunk apen ture in thefollower. This draw-bolt extends beyond the buiing lugs 14, 15, and atits rear end carries a spring seat 2S. The rearward follower 29, adaptedto engage the buffing lugs 14, 15, is in box form and apertured toaccommodate the draw-bolt 27 and parts of the gear mounted thereon. Thetop and bottom walls of this follower are beveled or forwardly andinwardly inclined, as shown at 30, to receive the beveled faces of thehooks 19 formed on the rearward ends of the bars 17, 18, therebypreventing the bars from spreading under the influence of draftstresses.

The inner side walls of the rear follower are forwardly and outwardlyinclined, as shown at 31, 32, for the purpose of engaging the outerfaces of a pair of triangular friction blocks 33, 34, which are seatedagainst the forward follower 26. F or convenience of manufacture thebeveled faces 31, 32, may be formed in part on blocks 35, 36, fittingwithin the chamber of the follower 29, and in part on the inner edges ofinstanding flanges 37, 38, at the front edges of the side walls of thefollower.

A sleeve 39 is slidably mounted on the forward end of the draw-bolt 27,its forward end taking the form of a wedgeshaped head 40 located betweenthe blocks 33, 34, and engaging their third faces. The blocks 33, 34,are recessed, as shown at 41, to receive the draw-bolt 27 as they moveinwardly.

An abutment 42, forming a spring seat, is slidably mounted on thedraw-bolt 27 and bears against the rearward end of the sleeve 39. Aspring or, as shown, a pair of nested springs 43, 44, encircle thedraw-bolt 27 and react between the spring seats 28 and 42.

In draft the rearward follower is drawn forward, its inclined faces 3l,32, sliding upon the blocks 33, 34, and forcing them inwardly andthereby forcingbaclrwardly the sleeve 39 and compressing the springsupon the rear seat 28, which is held against movement by the draw-bolt27. Friction is developed between all of the contacting inclinedsurfaces and also between they follower 26 and blocks 33, 34. Upon therelease the parts are returned to their normal position by the expansionof the springs, the movement being retarded by friction.

In buff the forward follower is moved backwardly by the coupler,carrying with it the blocks 33, 34, which are moved inwardly by theinclined faces 3l, 32, thereby forcing baclwardly the sleeve 39. As therear spring seat 28 is carried back with the forward follower, thebackward movement of the sleeve 39 is approximately double that of themovement of the follower 26, thereby permitting' the inward movement ofthe blocks 33, 34, until they come in contact each with the other,without unduly compressing the springs. Thus the necessary frictionalresistance is developed by a long range of movement of the frictionalsurfaces under comparatively light spring resistance, insuring a smoothaction and reducing the wear.

The aperture in the rear follower is sufficiently large to permit thepassage therethrough of the head 40 of the sleeve 39,v thus facilitatingrepairs. The spring seat 28 is held in place by a nut I-1-5 on the endof the draw-bolt 27. By removing this nut all of the parts carried bythe draw-bolt may be withdrawn `backwardly, and hence it is unnecessaryto remove the gear from the car for making ordinary repairs.

I claim as my inventionl. In a draft gear for railway cars, in

combination, a forward follower, a rear-` extending through the rearwardfollower and having a spring seat at its rearward end, a sleeve on thebar and projecting through the rearward follower and having wedgingfaces at its forward end, a spring seat at the rear end of the sleeve, aspring reacting between the two spring seats, andy a pair of triangularwedge blocks seated against the forward follower and interposed betweenthe wedging faces of the sleeve and the frictional faces of the rearwardfollower.

2. In a draft gear forrailway cars, in combination, a pair of opposedfollowers, coperating'-fr'iction elements associated, respectively, withthe two followers, a spring located on the axis of the gear and back` ofthe rearward follower, a seat'for the rear end of the spring such seatbeing connected with the' forward follower, a seat forthe forward end ofthe spring, and a wedgingl element associated with the last named seatand engaging wedging faces'of the friction elements associated withtheforward .fol-r of opposed followers, onev vthereof having inclinedfriction faces, a pairof triangular blocks engaging thev inclinedfriction faces of the follower and being' seated against the otherfollower, a wedge element interposed between the triangular blocks, arod. eX- tending through the wedge element and one of the followers,such rod being attached to one of said parts andslidably engagingy theother and having a spring seat at ,the

end opposite its attached end, and a spring reacting between the seatandthe element with which the rod is slidably engaged.

WALTER n.l oo'rTo/N.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressingthe Commissioner ofiPatents,

Washington, ID. C.

